In 1935, after more than a century of experimentation in Europe and America, a fully practical color-photography process for mass use was at last announced. Before that year, the practice of color photography had been limited to a relative handful of professionals and dedicated amateurs. But in the decades since the 1935 film was first marketed, the popularity of color photography has soared to the point where more color than black-and-white film is now sold in the United States.

In part, this phenomenal growth is due to the simple fact that color adds an exciting dimension to almost every kind of subject from the family snapshot to the carefully conceived and executed still life. In addition, it stems from the increasing ease of shooting and processing color. But perhaps most important of all has been the public's growing awareness that photography in color is not just the process of making pictures in black and white to which color has been added, but a challenging medium of expression.

In the volume the LIFE Library of Photography undertakes to examine the demands of color in all their various aspects in order to inform the reader how moder color film was invented, how it works and how he can take and process his own color pictures. And more: it attempts to show him the beauty that can be achieved with color. For color photography is a medium in which the only limit to creativity is the photographer's own imagination.